Yeah, he is the toughest guy I ever wrestled, but he's also the best person I've ever wrestled. People don't understand the man. He's one of the best people I've ever met in my life.
There's tough guys in wrestling. There's legitimately tough guys. And then there's a completely different category that only one man has ever occupied.
His name is Haku or Mang depending on which era you watched. His real name is Tonga Uliita and he is without any debate the most legitimately terrifying human being to ever set foot in a professional wrestling locker room. We're not talking about a tough character or a scary gimmick.
We're talking about a man who snapped police handcuffs behind his back who laughed when cops maced him directly in the face. And the craziest part, every single person who's ever told a story about this man says the exact same thing at the end of it. He is the nicest guy in the world.
Just don't piss him off. Let's kick things off with the current face of WWE, the American Nightmare. Cody Rhodess is a second generation superstar, a WWE champion, and a man who has competed at the absolute highest level for over 15 years.
He's been in the ring with everybody. He knows what a real tough guy looks like. And Cody is genuinely unabashedly in awe of Haku.
He once tried to replicate one of the most legendary Haku moments ever. The time someone smashed a wooden chair clean over Haku's head and Haku just stood there. And I so badly wanted to do this thing that I saw Haku do when a wooden chair was slammed over his head.
And he was so tough. He was such a dominating a heater that he just [music] didn't flinch. He just no sold and carried on.
Think about that for a second. A wooden chair shattered over this man's skull and his reaction was absolutely nothing. Cody wanted that same moment in their match so badly, but all they had was a Cracker Barrel rocking chair.
Heavy. Ridiculously heavy. That's the effect Haku has.
Even the current WWE champion is sitting there watching old footage trying to figure out how to be a fraction of what this man was. But admiring Haku from a distance is one thing. What about the men who had to actually stand next to him and realized a split second too late what they just done?
You'd think a man like the Undertaker would be scared of nobody. And you'd be right. Almost nobody.
The Undertaker is 6'8, over 300 lb in his prime. the most psychologically intimidating performer in the history of professional wrestling. He's been buried alive, set on fire, and thrown off the top of a steel cage.
He does not rattle easily, but Haku rattled them. Like I said, you can hit me in a safe area hard as you want. And that was what I was trying to, you know, to to get across to to Giant Gonzalez.
During a tag match, Taker and Kane versus Rkkeshi and Haku, Haku landed a chop on Taker. Now, Taker hates getting chopped, so his instincts took over. He grabbed Haku and turned him around and then it hit him like ice water down his spine.
Grabbed him and turned him around. And it was, you know, it was one of those moments like it just I just did it. And then it dawned on me who I had just grabbed and I came out of it because I I didn't like getting chopped, right?
Oh, this is Haku. Thank goodness he loved me and he liked me cuz he just went with it and he he didn't kill me. The Undertaker, the man who was scared every single person he's ever been in the ring with, is standing there thanking God that Haku liked him enough not to end his life.
And then Taker said something that perfectly sums up everything about this man. He is a sweetheart of a of a human being. I mean, just don't get him drunk and don't piss him off.
He has that ability to control himself. Yeah, but if you got out of line with him, it [music] could be really, really, really ugly. And I had that moment that I I I was like, "Oh my gosh, Mark, what have you done?
" Oh man, Haku, please don't kill me. Just don't piss him off. That's the warning that gets passed around every locker room Haku has ever walked into.
However, Chris Jericho has a story that shows you what happens when both sides show up on the same night in a Mexican airport and then a promoter's office. Chris Jericho is a six-time WWE Champion, AEW World Champion, and one of the greatest of all time. He is also one of the best storytellers this business has ever produced.
And he has a Haku story that is genuinely one of the most unhinged things ever told about another human being. They were heading to Aapulco for a show, rushing through the Mexico City airport pre 911 when you could show up 10 minutes before your flight and still make it. Jericho was in a hurry.
The security guards knew he was a foreigner and they started messing with him at the checkpoint. And then Jericho heard something coming from across the airport. That's off of me.
The guard that I did this to fell down. They all [music] start swarming and and then I hear this, "Hey, what are you doing? Leave him alone.
" And running through like Tyrannosaurus Rex through the airport. King Haku, who we were [music] really tight at the time. We lived in the same hotel.
Just the best guy ever. He threw guys out of the way to get over to me, pushing guys and pushing and picked the guy up by his collar and just went out come the guns. Oh.
Both of them ended up in a Mexican airport jail. But here's where it gets even better. They finally made it to Aapulko.
The show was almost over. Sold out main event. They worked the match and then the promoter decided not to pay them.
Tonga has already been in one fight with a bunch of cops. He walks [music] up the stairs and I'm behind I swear this is not wrestling exaggeration. He just pulls the door open and falls off the thing.
Promoter duck down behind the desk. He's like, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
" He's like, "Hey, brother. You pay me the money, brother. You give me the money.
" And this poor guy was just like, "No, give us the money. " Was terrified [music] that this giant tongan, not Samoan, was going to eat him up. Jericho went to jail.
A door got ripped off its frame and Haku didn't even take an extra dime that wasn't his. That tells you everything about this man. Jericho saw Haku go to war for a friend without a second thought.
But what happens when someone just randomly decides to poke the wrong guy in a bar? Ric Flair has lived more life than 10 men combined. 16time world champion four decades on the road.
He has been in every bar in every city in every country on this planet. And Ric Flair calls Haku the human vegatic. Human veimeatic.
That's considered by many to be the scariest guy. Oh my god. His wife doesn't let him out the house.
Well, not I mean he's had so many lawsuits. He's bad, man. They were in Charleston, South Carolina, a place called the Jukebox Bar.
Late 80s, early 90s. Lair is having drinks, dancing with a girl, having a great time until some guy keeps cutting in. Flair warned him, but the guy came back anyway.
Then at closing time, a guy maybe 5'9, maybe 160 lbs, soaking wet, walks straight up to Haku and starts poking him in the chest, telling him it's time to leave. And Flair just stood there watching. 16 time world champion, seen everything, done everything, and he's describing Haku like he's a natural disaster that you just have to hope doesn't hit your town.
That's what Haku does to one random guy who steps out of line. But Road Warrior Animal has a story that shows what happens when an entire gang steps out of line. Road Warrior Animal does not get impressed easily.
He is one half of the Legion of Doom, the most dominant, most feared tag team in the history of professional wrestling. A man who spent his entire career being the scariest person in the building. A gang confrontation broke out one night involving the wrestlers.
Things were escalating fast. Lots of people, lots of tension. And then Haku stepped forward.
All of a sudden, he gets his the head guy down and bro, he had his finger behind the guy's eye and told him says, "Brother, I'm going to eat that eyeball if you don't stop. " We didn't really have to do anything. After Haku did that, everybody backed off and left.
Yeah, that's that was Haku. The entire group backed off. Every single one of them.
Nobody moved. And then Animal said the line that hits hardest of all. Anybody in a wrestling that would never I want to have to fight it would be Haku.
Road Warrior animal Spike shoulder pads. His whole identity was being unmovable, unstoppable, untouchable. And there's one name on his list of people he would never ever want to go against.
Just one animal gives you the bar side of Haku. Kevin Nash gives you something just as jaw-dropping. What Haku looked like when he decided to turn it on physically.
Kevin Nash is 6' 10 in tall and over 300 lb. He's been a WWF champion, WCW champion, and one of the most physically imposing men this business has ever seen. When Nash sees something that genuinely shocks him, "You pay attention.
" He was asked point blank, "It was one superstar that nobody in the locker room would ever want to fight. " Nash didn't even pause. Haku's a gimme.
Haku was one of those guys when you just looked at him, you're just like, "Where do you hurt him? " you know, this is this big, you know, it's like it's like a pancer tank. But then Nash told a story that shows it wasn't just about Haku's reputation in a bar.
It was about what the man could physically do to you. During a WCW segment on Nitro, a sumo style angle between Haku and Big Show, something happened that nobody in that building was ready for. There a sumo deal.
They took off and hot cooch just like with his hands push show in like two seconds to [music] the corner. It was unbelievable. Like his explosiveness is a gimmick for for TV.
It was during nitros. Think about that for a second. The man didn't need a bar fight to [music] prove what he was.
He could walk into a wrestling ring and make the largest athlete in the world look like a child just like that. And there is one veteran who didn't just witness Haku. He wrestled him repeatedly in Japan.
And what he has to say is about more than just toughness. Scott Norton is not a casual tough guy. Before he ever stepped into a wrestling ring, he was a professional arm wrestling champion.
Over 30 titles, four US National Championships, the man was so physically dominant that Sylvester Stallone put him in over the top. Norton spent his entire career being the most dangerous man in any building he walked into. And Norton will tell you flat out, nobody he ever wrestled compared to Haku.
And me and Haku had a not a huge history here in the States as far as wrestling each other, but Japan was monstrous. He wrestled each other a lot. You know, I get asked question all the time about Haku.
Is he the toughest guy [music] you ever wrestled? Yeah, he is toughest guy ever wrestled, but he's also the best person I've ever wrestled. People don't understand the man.
He's one of the best people I've ever met in my life. But Norton's most important Haku story isn't about a fight. It's about a moment.
And 5 years apart, communication broken down, things complicated. Norton got invited back to New Japan. He walked into the hotel lobby and there was Haku.
They came together, hugged, started talking, and then Haku looked around at all the young wrestlers standing there frozen watching these two legends and said, He says, "Brother," he says, "slook at these young guys. They need to see this respect we have. They're young.
They don't understand. It's very important for them. " And I look around the room and everybody just like, "All these top kids, man, they're they're great are pro wrestlers and they're phenomenal.
" Nobody in that lobby moved. Not one person. Norton is a man who spent his life around fighters, strong men, wrestlers, and legitimate tough guys.
Yet, when the conversation turns to Haku, Haku is the toughest man he ever met. That story shows you the man behind the legend. But Don Fry just cuts straight to the truth.
Don Fry is a Pride FC legend, an MMA pioneer, and one of the most legitimate tough guys to ever cross into professional wrestling. He does not say things for effect. When Fry talks about Haku, he's completely direct.
Love Haku. I love Haku, man. Ming.
You know it is Ming, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. I can't remember his real name. Tonga.
Yeah. Tonga. Yeah.
He's great, man. We hung out. We hung out.
That is a scary human being. But he's also the nicest guy in the world. He would give you the shirt off his back, give you his pants and his shoes.
He would go home naked just just to make sure you you were happy. When Fry gets asked the question everyone always asks, why do people keep messing with this man? His reputation is everywhere.
Why would anyone do it? People are stupid, especially when they get liquid courage. You can get a bunch of liquid courage and you wake up in the hospital.
He's a frightening person, man. But he's the nicest guy in the world. That's the whole story.
Haku never looked for it. It always found him and it always ended the same way. So, where does Haku rank in the all-time toughest men conversation?
According to literally everyone who was ever in a room with him, the answer is for his place, and it's not close. When the Undertaker is thanking God that Haku liked him when road warrior animal says he'd never want to fight him, there is nothing left to debate. Tonga Uli Fifita Haku Mang the most legitimately terrifying man professional wrestling has ever seen and by every single account the nicest guy in the locker room when you treated him right.
Just don't piss him off. But what do you think about the legend of Haku and Mang? Let us know in the comments below.
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